Monday, May 3, 2010

God is So Very Good to Us

A Road Trip Becomes Something Else

On Saturday, I took a road trip with my prayer partner and long time Brother in Christ, Wayne Zimmer.  In about 25 years of praising the Lord together, we have gone through much individually and together.  When I first met Wayne, we were at an Engaged Encounter marriage preparation course, and he walked up to me and said simply with this big wide smile that he has: "Praise the Lord, Brother."

Well, I knew that I only had a sister, and if I had a brother, he would have been taller.  I was pretty sure that he was not my brother.  But, the next morning, I was up really early, and I went into the room where the session were being held for the EE weekend.  I sat in the back of the room by myself, about 5:30 am, and cried like a little baby, because over night Jesus had spoken to me of His love for me and what He did to save my soul, and how He forgave me for all my sins.  Wayne already knew this, and so over time we became very good friends.

Over the years, as circumstances of live have come upon us, we have grown together, and then drifted a bit, and then grown together again.  What we have is a brotherhood (Yes, he is my brother - from a different mother), founded on prayer together, and a deep love and concern for each other's welfare.

So, on Thursday as we had gone to Ridgetown for the first prayer meeting that Father Sam had organised, we heard Father talk about a visionary named Emma who was going to be in Windsor on Saturday afternoon.  As it worked out, we were both able to go and so we drove down there to see her.

I wrote briefly about it yesterday at Life in the Spirit.

But, Wayne and I reached the same conclusion about the day independently, and confirmed it this morning when we met for morning prayer.  During the mass that was held, the celebrant used the Sunday liturgy, and the first reading was from the Acts of the Apostles, and was about Paul and Barnabas and their travels together.  As long as I have known Wayne, his nickname has been Barney, which is shorot for Barnabas, because early on in his walk with Christ, he developed a reputation as an encourager, as Saint Barnabas was.  My confirmation name is Paul.  At the time, I noted it mentally.

We had a two hour drive together to Windsor from London, and in that time we shared our thoughts, and prayed the Rosary and the Liturgy of the Hours.  At the celebration we attended, there was Mass, preceded by the Divine Mercy Chaplet. and followed by the Rosary.

We did not approach Emma for prayer as everyone was doing, as we had to leave before it would have been our turn.  Yet, we knew that our leaving was appropriate.

We then shared a drive back to Ridgetown, where Wayne's Dear Wife had been spending some retreat time over the previous night.  Again we had time of fellowship as we drove.  I drove one of their two vehicles back to London, as they were going to stay over in Ridgetown for the night, and so got the blessing of some quiet time on the road by myself, and an opportunity to spend a few minutes with them both.

We concluded that God had given us a special time of fellowship to be in His presence and truly in each others.  Refreshed by our time together and with Him, we returned to Our Dear Wives happy to be with them, and share our journey, and listen to theirs.

God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good.
He's so good to me.

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